The Institutional Support Programs (ISP) PEPFAR-funded component encompasses a range of interventions for Ministry of Education (MOE) staff and teachers including abstinence and be faithful (AB), OVC system strengthening, testing and counseling (TC) and palliative care and support programs.

Zambias MOE has the largest workforce of any Ministry in the country and serves over 3.2 million children. ISP will continue to support the MOEs roll out and institutionalization of its HIV/AIDS workplace policy with a particular focus on systems strengthening for service delivery. ISP will impact the MOEs national operations by working through and leveraging existing MOE staff and structures to launch and expand its HIV/AIDS interventions.

ISP will continue to strengthen partnerships with Teacher Unions to mobilize teachers and network them to health services. ISP will also work through local NGOs to take mobile testing to both urban and rural schools. TC programs and mobile services provide better outreach options to schools through interventions such as Teacher Health Days (THDs). THDs offer MOE staff and the surrounding communities a broad range of health services to disseminate AB messages, counseling, testing and other HIV/AIDS related interventions.

ISP will also build on formative research conducted in 2009 with school staff and faculty on their HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices (KABP). The findings offer rich data on which to base the design and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs and policies. The ISP program will be embedded in the MOE to ensure buy-in and sustainability. ISP interventions will transition to MOE funding by 2015. M&E plans will be jointly established with the contractor and MOE upon award.

ISP will implement care and support interventions in line with the MOEs plan to roll out and institutionalize its HIV/AIDS workplace policy. ISPs outreach to the MOE includes home-based palliative care and support for those teachers and staff living with HIV/AIDS, AB messages and materials, system strengthening to support OVCs as well as testing and counseling. ISP will increasingly reach out to teachers and MOE staff in rural areas through innovative and decentralized workplace initiatives that allow rural teachers and administrators to access the information, services and support they need to function effectively. The system strengthening focus of the program is directly linked to intermediate results in the new Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Zambia.

Palliative and home-based care interventions will involve the training of care givers drawn from the communities surrounding the schools. Caregivers will include teachers and MOE staff who will be trained in Antiretroviral Treatment (ART), ART adherence, counseling and basic nursing skills. ISPs training of caregivers will increase the MOEs capacity to provide quality palliative services and enable caregivers to identify HIV/AIDS disease progression in a timely fashion. Caregivers will ensure that teachers and staff on ART adhere to the frequency and regimen and work with other household members to assist in the care and support process.

In previous workplace and HIV teacher support programs, USAID/Zambia partnered with the MOE in the formation of teacher support groups for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. These support groups are often the only rural institutions that openly address the challenges of living and working with HIV/AIDS and related health problems. Upon award, it is likely that the ISP contractor will partner with the Anti-AIDS Teachers Association in Zambia (AATAZ), a non-governmental and non-profit teacher organization, to provide capacity building and assistance to support HIV/AIDS infected teachers. AATAZs outreach efforts will provide teachers and staff with a network of care and support as well as a referral process. In addition, AATAZ will write and produce HIV/AIDS teachers testimony pamphlets that will help to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS within the teaching ranks and in the communities they serve.

Monitoring and evaluation plans as well as additional research studies to advance the ISP approach will be developed with the awardee, the MOE and USAID/Zambia staff. All ISP interventions will be carried out in collaboration with the respective MOE offices, schools and staff to ensure sustainability and linkages with the MOEs fully incorporated HIV/AIDS workplace policy. ISP will also build on formative research conducted in 2009 with school staff and faculty on their HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices (KABP). The findings offer rich data on which to base the design and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs and policies. The ISP program will be embedded in the MOE to ensure buy-in and sustainability. ISP interventions will transition to MOE funding by 2015.

ISP will strengthen OVC support systems in line with the MOEs plan to MOEs roll out and institutionalize its HIV/AIDS response. ISP will include system strengthening to support OVCs, AB messages and materials, testing and counseling as well as home-based palliative care and support for those teachers and staff living with HIV/AIDS. ISP will increasingly support policies that foster the development of innovative and decentralized workplace initiatives that allow schools to access the information, services and support they need to function effectively. The system strengthening focus of the program is directly linked to intermediate results in the new Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Zambia.

Socio-cultural constraints on children have been compounded by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. School children who have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS suffer additional psychosocial problems and in many instances are abused and at risk of HIV infection. Orphans often find themselves as social outcasts and can be denied opportunities to continue their education. Incorporating a response to OVC related challenges offers the MOE an opportunity to improve the quality of institutional reforms and their impact on the learning experience for both boys and girls in school. ISP will assist the MOE to achieve greater coherence in the integration of special issue programs on gender, HIV/AIDS, OVCs, School Health and Nutrition (SHN) and community schools to promote inclusion. In terms of OVCs, ISP will assist the MOE to achieve greater policy and institutional integration of HIV/AIDS and school health and nutrition interventions and implement the operational policy guidelines for community schools that cater to the OVC student population. ISP will support the MOE to track and monitor budget resource allocations for OVCs and community schools to insure consistency and transparency in geographic coverage. ISP will also implement an integrated health management support strategy for provinces, districts and schools that focuses on OVCs and their specific needs in terms of education and support. Finally, ISPs OVC focus will strengthen the internal efficiency of the basic education sector, particularly with regard to retaining OVCs in the school system.

Monitoring and evaluation plans as well as additional research studies to advance the ISP approach will be developed with the awardee, the MOE and USAID/Zambia staff. All ISP interventions will be carried out in collaboration with the respective MOE offices, schools and staff to ensure sustainability and linkages with the MOEs fully incorporated HIV/AIDS workplace policy. ISP will also build on formative research conducted in 2009 with school staff and faculty on their HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices (KABP). The findings offer rich data on which to base the design and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs and policies. The ISP program will be embedded in the MOE to ensure buy-in and sustainability. ISP interventions will transition to MOE funding by 2015.

ISP will implement AB interventions in line with the MOEs plan to roll out and institutionalize its HIV/AIDS workplace policy. ISPs outreach to teachers and MOE staff will encompass AB messages and materials, system strengthening to support OVCs, testing and counseling as well as home-based palliative care and support for those teachers and staff living with HIV/AIDS. ISP will increasingly reach out to teachers and MOE staff in rural through innovative and decentralized workplace initiatives that allow rural teachers and administrators to access the information, services and support they need to function effectively. The system strengthening focus of the ISP program is directly linked to intermediate results in the new Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Zambia.

The implementation of AB prevention activities under the PEPFAR component of ISP is central to the institutionalization of HIV/AIDS workplace policies at strategic points in the system (school, district, province and central ministry levels). Earlier USAID programs worked with the MOE to establish the MOEs first workplace policy supported by formative research conducted in 2009 with school staff and faculty on their HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices (KABP). The findings offer rich data on which to base the design and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs and policies. With evidence drawn from research on teacher and MOE staff behaviors, practices and knowledge, ISP will set out to update the HIV/AIDS workplace policy and support the MOE to establish relevant policy interventions at all levels of education system. ISP will strengthen these interventions and policies with the development of IEC materials to raise awareness and promote more positive health messages for teachers and MOE staff in general. Additionally, the MOE will continue to sponsor Teacher Health Days as part of an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign for teachers. All IEC materials and campaigns will include outreach to the larger communities surrounding the schools.

The AB approach under ISP will also address issues raised in the KAPB survey related to concurrent partnerships that have been determined to escalate HIV infections. Again, in order to ensure the sustainability of this intervention, ISP will work with the MOE to integrate HIV/AIDS interventions in the mainstream of the planning and budgeting process. This effort will promote the establishment of HIV/AIDS workplace programs and facilitation of related services at the province, district and school levels.

Monitoring and evaluation plans as well as additional research studies to advance the ISP approach will be developed with the awardee, the MOE and USAID/Zambia staff. All ISP interventions will be carried out in collaboration with the respective MOE offices, schools and staff to ensure sustainability and linkages with the MOEs fully incorporated HIV/AIDS workplace policy. ISP will build on research and joint planning to target services for MOE staff and link interventions to Zambias Sixth national Development Plan (SNDP). All MOE workplace programs will be led by the MOE to ensure buy-in and transition to MOE funding by 2015.

ISP will implement counseling and testing interventions in line with the MOEs plan to roll out and institutionalize its HIV/AIDS workplace policy. ISPs outreach to teachers and MOE staff will encompass testing and counseling, AB messages and materials, system strengthening to support OVCs as well as home-based palliative care and support for those teachers and staff living with HIV/AIDS. ISP will increasingly reach out to teachers and MOE staff in rural areas through innovative and decentralized workplace initiatives that allow rural teachers and administrators to access the information, services and support they need to function effectively. The system strengthening focus of the program is directly linked to intermediate results in the new Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Zambia.

Zambias MOE recognizes that TC is the first step towards accessing HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support. With the national HIV prevalence rate of 14.3 percent, TC will continue to be a critical pillar of the MOEs response to HIV/AIDS. While the numbers of MOE staff participating in TC in the past is encouraging, ISP will develop new outreach and innovative avenues for reaching often remote and isolated schools and their respective staff. ISP will leverage existing MOE structures and work in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and its mobile services providers in the districts to institutionalize the provision of TC for even the most remote schools and communities. ISP will also work with local NGOs to better reach targeted individuals.

The TC approach under ISP will also address issues related to concurrent partnerships that have been determined to escalate HIV infections. Again, in order to ensure the sustainability of this intervention, ISP will work with the MOE to integrate HIV/AIDS interventions in the mainstream of the planning and budgeting processes. This effort will promote the establishment of HIV/AIDS workplace programs and facilitation of TC services at the province, district and school levels.

Monitoring and evaluation plans as well as additional research studies to advance the ISP approach will be developed with the awardee, the MOE and USAID/Zambia staff. All ISP interventions will be carried out in collaboration with the respective MOE offices, schools and staff to ensure sustainability and linkages with the MOEs fully incorporated HIV/AIDS workplace policy. ISP will also build on formative research conducted in 2009 with school staff and faculty on their HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices (KABP). The findings offer rich data on which to base the design and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs and policies. The ISP program will be embedded in the MOE to ensure buy-in and sustainability. ISP interventions will transition to MOE funding by 2015.